Jason Downie ’94: That house is where some of my best memories were made, and some of my best friends were met 

Jason Downie ’94 “I never thought of myself as a Greek life person, but there was something different about Alpha Chi Rho,” he said. “It was more about people, they were cool guys, and I got a good vibe.” 

Jason didn’t pledge until his Sophomore year when his buddy from his acapella group recruited him. And as a part of their pledging, the brothers invited them to a last supper. “They said they wanted to serve us so they were going to cook a meal for us,” he said. “But it was the most disgusting meal, something like oatmeal, food coloring, anchovies, and beets. It was gross. We ate it and created a bond that all of us would remember.” 

While he didn’t live at the house, it was a favorite hangout. “It was central to the campus, so I would eat lunch there every day and just hang out,” he said. “Oh! Ralph’s Lunch Truck was a block away, and they made the best cheeseburger sub!” 

He and his buddies would plan their class schedule around the TV show Hogan’s Heroes. “We would meet up at the house and watch it every day from 1-2 pm,” he smiled.  

“We were known for a couple of things… a really nice house, cool parties and premium beer,” he said. “Our biggest party was The Moose is Loose with bottled Moosehead beer as its namesake.” He puzzled over why they thought glass bottles were a good idea.  

The lifelong friendships are hard to come by, and it is so cool to have a history with people you have known for 30 years,” he said.  

He and some of his Alpha Chi Rho brothers are headed to Nepal to climb to Mount Everest Base Camp later this year. Bill Loller ’93 is part of that group and is still Jason’s great friend today. 

Jason and his wife have a beautiful blended family with four kids and are currently empty nesters who love to travel the world.  

Jason has had a diverse career path. “I have had an interesting career. I worked in strategic consulting, joined a boy band and traveled the country doing 300 shows a year, I owned a bar, I worked at Lotame, working my way from the mail room to Chief Revenue Officer, and most recently, I was the Director of Global Sales at Google,” he shared.  

A tradition he hopes never goes away: “The house. I hope they can always keep the house. That house is where some of my best memories were made, and some of my best friends were met.,” he said.